Rape Trial Begins

October 26, 2011

Staff photo/Mike Burkholder:
Douglas Wine, left, talks with his attorney Ritchey Hollenbach during his trial, which started on Tuesday.

— Editor’s note: The Evening Leader, like the Associated Press, does not identify victims or alleged victims of sex crimes.

WAPAKONETA — The rape trial of a St. Marys optometrist started on Tuesday with the alleged victim recounting the events of an October night in 2009.

The alleged victim, who was 69-years-old at the time, recounted how Douglas Wine, 52, 227 Candlewood Place, St. Marys, engaged in unconsented sexual conduct with her on the evening of Oct. 12, 2009. She was the first witness called by Auglaize County Prosecuting Attorney Ed Pierce and told jurors about how she awoke with Wine kneeling next to her with one of his hands down her pants and the other on her chest.

“I remember yelling and it woke me up and it was me that was yelling,” she said as she choked back tears. “And when I came to wake and opened my eyes, Doug was looking right at me.”

The witness said she called out for her husband when she realized Wine was engaging in sexual conduct with her.

She said Wine left the room when she told him one of his children was in the room.

“He took his hands out and he stood up and walked over and unlatched the bedroom door,” she said. “And he closed the bedroom door.”

During her testimony, the woman revealed she attempted several times to tell someone what happened, but said she “didn’t have the courage.”

She noted she finally contacted an attorney in Florida and she said through that conversation, a woman told her to contact the authorities in Auglaize County. However, she did not immediately report the incident.

The first person close to her whom she told was her husband. She said she told him about the incident as the two were driving home from work.

“I had a very hard time telling it,” she said.

After telling her husband, she said she decided to tell Wine’s wife about the incident.

“We cried,” she said. “It was nothing but tears, trillions of tears.”

She said she initially wanted to contact the sheriff’s office, but Wine’s wife urged her to reconsider.

She did for a time, but said she eventually contacted the sheriff’s office with a desire to press charges.

“She (Wine’s wife) said it was a family thing and to leave it in the family,” she said.

During cross examination, Wine’s attorney, Ritchey Hollenbaugh, questioned the woman regarding the incident. Hollenbaugh also asked how it was possible Wine could have touched her without first waking her up.

Hollenbaugh asked her about a Facebook posting on one of Wine’s vacation photographs the morning following the incident. The alleged victim said she did not remember making the post.

“We were in our RV and we don’t have Internet in our RV,” she said. “I don’t believe we stopped.”

Hollenbaugh asked about a handful of other Facebook posts the alleged victim made in the months following the incident.

He also asked about several trips she made to Ohio in the months following the incident.

The witness noted she did not tell investigators about the trips because she did not remember the visits.

On redirect, Pierce asked about the Facebook posts and the return trips. The witness noted she wanted to remain a part of Wine’s children’s lives.

The trial is expected to resume at 8:30 a.m. today. Wine faces a maximum of 10 years in prison if convicted on the rape count. The trial is expected to be completed by Friday.